Forty-five may not be a nice round number, and it’s not really a jubilee, but when a band have intermittently existed for so long it’s quite a milestone to celebrate – and that’s what the Brummies of UB40 are doing now by releasing, on April 19th, “UB45”: a 14-track collection of new and old, although freshly recut, numbers which bring together the reggae group’s past and present.
Of course, the record’s title also indicates its focus on the ensemble’s singles, all sung now by Matt Doyle, the veterans’ frontman since 2021 who, to the date, didn’t have a chance to lay down an album with them but made the recently chosen covers of “Gimme Little Sign” and “Hope She’ll Be Happier” – from, respectively, Brenton Wood and Bill Withers’ repertoires – completely his own. With Robin Campbell, Earl Falconer, Jimmy Brown and Norman Hassan being there since 1978, “UB45” can open another chapter in the band’s history and, well, see them in five years celebrating a genuine jubilee.
UB45
1. Home
2. Food For Thought
3. King
4. Champion
5. Tyler
6. Trouble
7. Red Red Wine
8. Fool Me Once
9. Cherry Oh Baby
10. Say Nothing
11. Sing Our Own Song
12. Gimme Some Kinda Sign
13. Kingston Town
14. Hope She’ll Be Happier
